TikTok has removed more than 380,000 videos in the United States for violating its hate speech policy so far this year, the short-form video app said on Thursday.

The app, owned by China's ByteDance, also said it banned more than 1,300 accounts for posting hateful content. 

TikTok said in a blog post that it had acted on content such as race-based harassment and that it also had a zero-tolerance policy on organized hate groups and on content that denied 'violent tragedies' like the Holocaust or slavery.











Screen shots from TikTok videos shows a caption sending viewers to antisemitic pastebin files and another provoking hashtags promoting anti BLM messaging. More than 1,3000 accounts have been suspended





Race-based harassment and content that denied 'violent tragedies' like the Holocaust or slavery were targeted by TikTok

The app, which is hugely popular among teenagers, is best known for dance and lip-syncing routines and viral challenges, but a review by the Anti-Defamation League earlier this month said that the platform was being used to spread white supremacist and anti-Semitic hate speech.

'Despite TikTok's efforts to moderate and/or Remove Pastebin extremist content via community guidelines that cover a wide range of problematic content, from hate speech to discussions of self-harm, a cursory review of the platform by ADL's Center on Extremism found that white supremacists and antisemites are using a range of methods on the platform to recruit new adherents and share hateful content,' the ADL said in a statement.

TikTok, which has been under scrutiny over its content moderation practices, in March named the initial members of a content advisory council, to give advice on its policies and evaluate the company's actions.




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Profiles associated with accounts known for pushing out anti-semetic messageson the app

U.S. President Donald Trump also ordered ByteDance last week to divest TikTok's U.S. operations within 90 days, in the latest effort to ramp up pressure on the Chinese company over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles. 

U.S. officials have expressed concerns that information on users could be passed on to China's government.

TikTok has said that it has never provided user data to China and that it would not do so if asked. 


 


 Oracle goes head-to-head with Microsoft in the race to buy TikTok's US business following Trump's 90-day deadline  

ByRyan Morrison For Mailonline and Afp

Oracle has entered the race to buy the US arm of social video app TikTok from Chinese owners ByteDance - along with Microsoft and Twitter, insiders claim.

The software giant has held talks with ByteDance, and is seriously considering buying the app's operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to the FT. 

The race to take control of TikTok in the US follows a threat from President Donald Trump to shut it down unless an American firm takes ownership by mid-November.

Trump claims there is 'credible evidence' that TikTok poses a security threat, something the firm flatly denies, calling the claim 'rumours and misinformation'.

Microsoft is thought to be the current frontrunner to buy the app from its Chinese owners - with the possibility of them taking control in Europe and India as well. 

No financial details have been revealed about the sale, but it is thought the Microsoft deal - which could include all global TikTok operations - may be worth $50 billion. 








TikTok is reportedly planning to sue the Trump administration over the president's executive order banning the Chinese app from the US (file photo) 

TikTok is currently the fourth most popular app on the Apple App Store, the sixth most popular on the Google Play Store and the 7th most downloaded app of the last decade despite not launching until 2016. 

Oracle are believed to be working with US investors including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital - both of which already have a stake in TikTok owner ByteDance.

TikTok expert Timothy Armoo, the 25-year-old CEO of Fanbytes and founder of the first UK TikTok influencer house, says Oracle buying the service makes no sense. 

'The deal makes zero sense when seen from a business lens but starts to make more sense when you consider Larry Ellison [Oracle chairman and chief technology officer] is an open Trump supporter and a friend of the President,' Armoo said.

He said as Oracle is an enterprise company there will be some wins in terms of access to data and cloud solutions - but nobody in the Oracle senior team had likely ever thought or cared about TikTok.

'This rumour has little commercial sense behind it,' Armoo said, adding that the two firms serve massively different demographics and cultures.

ByteDance is said to be opposed to selling any assets beyond those in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, insiders claim. 

Twitter also held early-stage discussions with ByteDance but there were concerns over whether they could finance any deal for the popular app, the FT reported.








The talks of a TikTok buyout saw gains of $95 billion added to Microsoft's worth, bringing its total value to more than $1.6 trillion









The ByteDance headquarters in Beijing, China is pictured on August 7. According to insiders there is a lot of code-sharing between ByteDance products so separating US operations could take years

Mr Trump vowed to ban TikTok in the US after a recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment - a panel that vets foreign transactions in the US.

The move would require ByteDance to divest TikTok's US operations within 90 days.